At CHS, our clinical team plays an important role in offering medication management services to the patient. Many patients knowingly or unknowingly need medication help for many reasons.
Increasing health care charges are affecting patients nationwide. As employers and insurance companies face high expenses, they may move to a cost-sharing strategy, which potentially increases financial burdens on patients. Clinical encounters in which patients experience financial hardship can be awkward and frustrating for both parties. Financial burden is a significant reason for therapeutic failure, medication noncompliance, and the need for medication adherence counseling. As patients face higher out-of-pocket costs, they may experience limited healthcare access. Central Health Solutions (CHS) has established the Patient Assistance Program, which includes medication monitoring services, the MTM Medicare program, and comprehensive medication management as patient-centered strategies to improve accessibility to essential therapies and ensure continuity of care.
Costs of prescription medications are rising. Many patients have difficulty paying for their prescriptions, resulting in missing or delaying getting medication due to financial concerns. Cost-related nonadherence is high in the USA. Especially among people with chronic diseases. A total of 6%- 7% of US adults reported at least 1 form of cost-related nonadherence in 2014. In adults with type 1 or 2 diabetes, 25% reported underusing insulin in the previous year to manage costs, 3.2% reported rationing insulin daily, and 40% reported not discussing underuse with their physician.
Generally, nonadherence is associated with a greater risk for hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, elevated hemoglobin A1c levels in people with diabetes, and a greater risk for dyslipidemia and extended hospitalizations in patients with hypertension or CVD.
Successful performance of medication reconciliation services has a positive impact on patient’s response to a hospital stay as well as it shows improvement in clinical quality and financial outcome.
Making a list of a patient’s current medicines, verifying it, and comparing it to the medication orders and the patient’s health condition significantly decreases errors. Successful medication management and solutions positively impact a patient’s response to a hospital stay. It also shows improvement in clinical quality and financial outcomes.
Medication reconciliation has proven to be a significant challenge for organizations. If inaccurate medical history is recorded while offering medication management and medication regimen management solutions, the same record follows a patient throughout hospitalization. It can contribute to medication errors and increase costs of care.
Traditionally, organizations have utilized a variety of caregivers, including physicians and mid-level practitioners, to offer medication reconciliation services and complete the reconciliation process. The result being a fragmented process with sub-optimal accuracy.
CHS has developed a centralized platform for providing medication reconciliation services. Our pharmacist-driven approach, combined with personalized adherence programs, uses technology to improve accuracy while reducing overall costs.